The sound of heels echoed through the hallway. A woman adjusted her glasses, and in her other hand was a small monitor.
"Next is the report regarding the receding water of Lake Osteria."
The report made a man stop walking. His white robe and straight white hair swayed as he turned around to look at the woman who gave him the report.
The man raised his eyebrow.
"The lake water receded?"
The woman nodded.
"Yes… and…"
The man's expression turned strange.
"And?"
The woman handed the small monitor to the man. The man's eyebrow twitched when he saw the monitor screen.
"What is this?"
The woman cleared her throat.
"Several statues and large stones in Osteria Academy have also disappeared within this past week."
The man turned to look at the woman.
"How is that possible? What happened?"
The woman adjusted her glasses.
"At first only the large stones disappeared, but tonight the statues also started disappearing."
The man massaged his forehead. A breath escaped from his lips.
"Alright, we will deal with that later. Let's go to the Class 1 simulation first."
The man returned the small monitor.
"Damn it, why do strange things keep appearing? How dare they steal in the Black Sword territory, Anna?"
The man began walking again.
The woman followed him, the sound of her heels echoing again.
"I don't know, Headmaster."
A large double door appeared in the view of the headmaster and Anna.
Anna walked ahead of the headmaster, her smart bracelet touching the door.
Kling
The large door opened, cold air hitting Anna and the headmaster.
As soon as they entered, everyone stopped their work and stood up to greet them.
The headmaster raised his hand.
"Relax… just continue your work."
His words made them focus on the screens again.
Six people approached the headmaster and Anna.
The headmaster smiled.
"Are all your classes ready? Tanya, Theo, Yuna, Haris, Toya, B?"
The six of them nodded at the same time.
"Yes sir."
The headmaster stroked his chin.
"Then are they already in their respective rooms? Is it time for me to explain the rules?"
This time Theo spoke.
"Yes sir, they are all ready. You can inform them now."
"Alright."
Theo turned around and approached the people who were focused on their monitors.
"Is everything ready? The headmaster will inform them now."
Someone nodded.
"Yes, professor, the headmaster's broadcast will begin in 10 seconds."
Theo nodded and walked back to the headmaster.
"8 seconds left sir."
The headmaster nodded. Slowly everyone stepped away from the headmaster as a light surrounded him.
Someone raised their hand.
"3…2…1."
The headmaster smiled.
In one fairly large room there were many sofas and equipment sufficient for 100 people. A screen was displayed in that room.
Whispers of conversation were heard, but slowly their voices faded and their attention shifted when the screen lit up.
On the screen the headmaster appeared with his smile.
"Good morning students of Class 1 Osteria Academy…"
There was no response from the people in the room, but their gazes never left the screen.
"Today is the simulation day for the trial before the final semester exam."
"There are currently 6 classes and 100 students in each class in the first year, and all of you will enter the VR world for this exam."
"There you will fight each other and survive."
"The rules are very simple. Class representatives have 100 points and ordinary students only have one point. If you eliminate someone you will get their points, and if you are eliminated the points you collected along with your own points will be transferred to the person who eliminated you. This simulation is about surviving and getting as many points as possible."
The headmaster's smile widened.
"You will survive there for three days. Everything will feel exactly like the real world. You must manage your supplies, manage your mana, and avoid exhaustion."
Everyone in the room swallowed.
"Collect as many points as possible and show your ability to adapt in any environment."
The smile on the headmaster's face disappeared.
"Good luck in hell for three days."
The headmaster disappeared from the screen and the screen turned dark again. Noise returned to the room.
A loud sigh was heard, everyone looked at the source.
Walking while holding a sword with one hand, the boy moved his other hand as if stretching. His black eyes showed irritation.
"Damn… I don't like these tight clothes."
A girl with long dark red hair looked at the boy complaining.
"Seriously? Now you are only protesting about the VR uniform?"
The boy looked at the dark red-haired girl, one of his eyebrows raised.
"These clothes are uncomfortable Katarina, how can this look like a swimsuit."
The boy pointed at his VR uniform.
"And look why only mine is silver while all of you are black."
Laughter came from everywhere hearing the boy's protest.
Katarina sighed again.
"Have you never used VR Alex? I thought Captain Sander must have one at home."
Alex's eyes widened. His hand scratched his nose and his gaze was no longer looking at Katarina.
"Of course I have, but this is too uncomfortable."
Alex pointed at one of the people. It was a boy two meters tall.
"Look, Aril looks terrifying wearing that."
Giggles were heard when Alex said that.
Aril turned to look at Alex, veins appearing on his forehead. Touching his smart bracelet, Aril pointed it at Alex.
Click.
Alex's eyes widened, and Katarina looked at Aril.
A smile appeared on Aril's face.
"I will show this appearance of yours when you have a girlfriend later."
Laughter erupted in the room. Everyone approached Aril to ask for the photo, but two girls among them were the most persistent.
A girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail and golden eyes showing madness grabbed Aril's right hand.
"Send that photo to me! I want to make a huge banner after the simulation and hang it in the cafeteria!"
A girl with short brown hair shook Aril's right hand.
"Me first Aril, I want to use it as my profile picture to tease the girls."
Crazy shouting surrounded Aril, while some others only shook their heads.
"Mira and Reva seem to be going crazy."
"Didn't Reva just finish being Alex's servant yesterday?"
"Ck ck they became crazy because of a crazy person."
Mira and Reva kept asking Aril to share the photo.
Katarina turned back to look at Alex.
Standing there Alex was frozen, but a wide smile appeared on his face.
"Why are you smiling?"
Alex shrugged and looked at Katarina.
"Kekekek seeing them only take one photo of me is really disappointing."
Katarina made a confused expression.
Alex approached Katarina, tapped his smart bracelet and showed dozens of embarrassing photos of his classmates.
"Look, these are real embarrassing photos."
Alex kept showing the photos until one photo appeared. It was a photo of Katarina with a strange face because it was taken when she was speaking.
Alex's eyes widened and he immediately looked at Katarina.
"I… I will delete this Katarina," Alex said trembling.
Katarina's face turned red, steam might come out of her ears.
"You really are crazy."
Alex deleted the photo and quickly moved to the corner of the room. Katarina followed him.
In the corner Alex did what he did earlier, practicing with his sword.
But unlike before when he showed he was skilled in martial arts, Alex's sword movements looked stiff and amateurish.
Even Katarina who watched him almost laughed.
"Seriously? You are bad at using a sword?"
Alex looked at Katarina.
"I'm not used to using it."
One of Katarina's eyebrows raised as she looked at the longsword in Alex's hand.
"Didn't you survive with that sword during the train incident?"
Alex scratched the back of his head.
"Yes, there were a lot of them you know? I just swung it."
Katarina shook her head in disbelief.
"How did you survive like that?"
Alex shrugged.
"Well you know, with a little luck and instinct."
Katarina sighed and pointed at Alex's sword.
"What is your sword's name? And what is its function?"
Alex's eyes widened and he looked at his longsword.
'Its name is Changing Sword but what does it do Krystal? You never told me.'
A sigh sounded in Alex's mind.
'Didn't I ever tell you?'
Alex's face twitched.
'You never told me how could I know?'
Krystal clicked her tongue.
'Don't you have strong instincts? Just like its name the sword can change shape into anything you imagine.'
A growl escaped Alex's lips.
'If it's that useful why didn't you tell me from the beginning!!'
'First you never asked even after the train incident and second you can only do it when you channel mana into the sword, and your mana will keep being drained to maintain that other form.'
More veins appeared on Alex's forehead.
'Damn it Krystal you should tell me anything I don't know!!'
Katarina looked at Alex who was silent staring at his sword.
Katarina placed her hand on her waist.
'What is he doing? Why is he just staring at his sword? Has he gone crazy?' Katarina thought.
A smile suddenly appeared on Alex's face, a very wide smile.
Alex looked at Katarina.
"Its name is Changing Sword, and its function…"
Alex raised the sword, channeling his mana into it.
Imagining another weapon from the sword.
The sword shined, drawing everyone's attention.
The sword changed shape into a spear.
"This sword can change into any form."
Katarina's eyes widened when the sword turned into a spear. Amazed exclamations came from everywhere as people slowly approached.
Alex smiled then imagined another weapon.
The spear turned into a one-handed axe. Amazed exclamations were heard again.
Alex changed the axe into a one-handed shield and more voices echoed.
Alex smiled while nodding his head then changed its form again.
Now a stick appeared, a blunt stick like a bat. That stick was called a baseball bat in Alex's old world.
Everyone's faces became confused.
Katarina asked first.
"What is that?"
Alex looked at Katarina with a confused face.
"You don't know this? Isn't there something like this?"
Katarina's face became even more confused.
"Something like that? What is it and what is its use?"
Alex's face went blank.
'This world is very advanced and some things are similar to my old world, but there is no baseball here?'
Alex swung the stick like hitting a ball.
Confused voices came from those watching.
"What is he doing?"
"What is that actually?"
"His imagination is strange if that weapon can become anything he thinks of."
Alex's eyebrow twitched.
"Alright alright I will teach you after this simulation ends."
Everyone became even more confused by what Alex said.
He was still swinging the stick.
Katarina watched him silently, her blue eyes showing dangerous calmness.
'What is he talking about? This is getting stranger. He feels like someone who is not from here the closer I get to know him.'
Her serious doubt was suddenly broken by something that had become normal.
Katarina sighed and held her forehead, pointing at Alex.
"Help him stand up, he seems to have run out of mana maintaining the other form of his weapon."
Laughter erupted from those who saw it.
Alex was now lying down embarrassingly.
After the chaos finally the time for the simulation arrived.
Alex looked at his classmates. Silence occurred between them, very different from earlier.
Alex smiled.
"Alright we have prepared everything for a week, everyone has worked hard."
His friends nodded.
"We will discuss the details later, let's become the first in this simulation and in the final semester exam later."
Everyone cheered.
Alex smiled then opened the door of the room.
Slowly they walked out, not only them but other classes in other rooms also came out.
They looked at each other but Alex did not care.
Alex walked forward followed by the others toward the hundreds of VR capsules for their class.